A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
by Alex Lyons3
Summary: I know the title is a bit sappy, but I don't think that the story is. You be the judge. Duke and Original Character.
1. Chapter 1

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment. And see if you can't guess who the duck is that this chapter is talking about.

  


Chapter 1.

  


_ He held her in his arms, comforting her as best as he could. After everything that had happened to them, she trusted him again. Like it was before that awful night early on in their marriage. She had left him soon after she had found out his terrible secret and he had let her go. She was too beautiful and pure to be caught up with the likes of him anyway._

_ Later, Dragaunus had come and he had used his skills for the benefit of the people of Puckworld and was sought out by the leader of the Resistance, Canard. He knew that Canard wanting him was no laughing matter, but he also knew that if Canard wanted him badly enough he'd go with some of his demands. He explained that he wanted her out of where ever she was and safe within the Resistance's strong hold. To this Canard had agreed readily. Apparently he had been expecting some sort of bargaining. They went after her, and found her in the safety of an underground shelter. Canard was held spellbound, much like he was, even now, she was so beautiful. Even now, amid the devastation and destruction of Puckworld nothing could ever have matched Thea Swanson's grace or beauty. They had gotten her out and taken her deep into The Resistance's strong hold, just as he had wanted. However, something happened that he had not foreseen. Canard had fallen in love with her. Before Canard had gone to find Wildwing, he had asked Thea to marry him. Unbeknownst to Canard, he was standing just outside the door. He had heard everything, including Thea's happy, excited reply. His heart had broken at that moment. He knew that Thea no longer wanted him in her life, but he still loved her and hoped with all his might that she still loved him._

_ A week later, a band of rebels unaffiliated with The Resistance were captured and Canard, with a heavy heart sent Thea and her team on a rescue mission. They never returned. They had been captured by the Saurians and even though Canard was devastated, he was even more so. They had not found Thea's body, unlike the others, she had most likely been captured. When the team (Canard; Wildwing; Grin; Tanya; Mallory and Duke) had gone into The Master Tower, he had been on a quest to save her. He had hoped, but when The Tower was destroyed the hope he had faded. When they had come to this accursed planet through the dimisional gateway, he knew that there was no way, even if she had escaped, that he'd ever make it back in time to say he was sorry for all the lies he had told her._

_ Then, suddenly she was there and she was smiling at him. She forgave him and he pressed her lithe body against his. Swearing to her and to what ever god was listening that he'd never lie to her again and that he'd never let heer go._

  


The alarm clock sounded close to his ear, startling him out of his somewhat peaceful dream. He threw it across the room and cursed at it. He rolled over, unable to sleep, but lying there anyway. Huge tears rolled down his cheeks as he remembered the vividness of the dream he had just had and how much he wanted his pretty "Goddess" as he had called her when they had been married.


	2. Chapter 2

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

  


Chapter 2.

  


Duke stumbled into the mess hall (kitchen) and was assaulted from all angles by the aroma of coffee, eggs, bacon, sausage and toast which Mallory set down in his place. He gave her a nod of thanks and instantly plopped down in the chair which groaned under him.

"Duke!" Mallory snapped at him while he stuffed his beak full of scrabbled eggs. "You are going to break that chair one of these days and then what are you going to do, huh?"

Duke swallowed down his eggs, "Buy a new one." He stated simply. Most of the time he was cool and diviner, but not today. Today, he didn't feel like giving Mallory a witty remark or being cool or anything.

Mallory knew him too well after living with him for over a year. She cocked her head and eyed him a bit worriedly. "Hey, you okay?" She asked.

"No." He stated truthfully and flatly. He looked rather sad as he pushed his eggs around on his plate absentmindedly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, concern obvious in her voice. Duke shook his head and kept pushing his eggs around.

Voices came from the hall.

"Man am I starved!" Nosedive said as he entered the mess hall and grinned at Mallory.

"Here you go Nosedive." Mallory said, placing a steaming plate in front of him. "Hey, Wing, what do you want to drink? I _know_ you don't drink coffee. Juice or Milk?"

"Milk." Wildwing stated, eyeing Duke which the ex-thief noticed much to his discomfort. "You all right, Duke?"

"Yeah! I'm fine. You know...I'm not really hungry, here kid," he pushed his plate over to Nosedive who was scraping his plate clean, "have the rest. I'm going out." He stood and left the mess hall.

"What's wrong with The Dukester?" Nosedive asked watching him leave. The other two ducks just shrugged equally as puzzled about Duke's odd behavior.

* * *

To Sailor Vegeta: Cool! Thanks for the awesome review! As this chapter points out, it is Duke who I was talking about.

  


To All the People Who are Reading this Fic, but not reviewing (Hey! I do it too!): I felt a little suspense was all the fic needed for the first chapter. I figured Duke would have been the obvious choice followed by Grin, since the clues were he was wanted by Canard (so that rules Canard out as also Dive, since Canard really didn't want him along.), but he came before Wildwing. That rules Wing out as well as Dive again, since Dive wasn't part of The Resistance until after Canard found them both. Eh...I figured that only gave you two ducks to choose from, but of course I'm unsure if Grin would have a wife or any other kind of romantic relationship. Also, since Thea is a girl God Forbid I do a femslash!! My regular slash ideas have never been posted, due to the fact they just don't make any since. The fact that I'm doing romance kinda creeps me out in the first place. I've never really done a romance fic, but I figured if I did one that it'd be a Mighty Ducks fic instead of the usual Harry Potter or Gargoyles ones I do. They're more action oriented. Well, hope everyone enjoys this chapter whether you review or not.


	3. Chapter 3

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

  


Chapter 3.

  


Duke walked to the mall, his head bent down and his hands in his pockets, looking sad and forlorn. He had had the same dream for at least three nights now. He hated and liked it all at the same time. The other two nights he had been able to shake his depression off and the team was none the wiser, but this morning was different. He just cried until he couldn't cry anymore. It wasn't because he thought Thea was dead, which he was still sure she was, but the fact that he never got to hold her in his arms again. He never got to apologize. It was after she had left that he had began to put some distance between him and the rest of the Brotherhood. He just wasn't up to doing anything after that, even pulling off a successful heist no longer had it's appeal. He looked up, he'd stopped in front of a flower shop. He looked at the flowers in the window and noticed the woman in there cutting some tiger lilies. Thea had always loved lilies, especially the ice lilies that he had always brought home. They may have not been ice lilies, but they looked very similar only their coloring was different. Ice lilies were as white as snow and had pink, purple and blue spots. He looked through the glass a bit more then went through the door.

He walked out several minutes after with a vase near overflowing with tiger lilies. He carefully carried them over to the Pond. He went inside and as the others were practicing their hockey plays. Phil, their manager, was talking a mile a minute on his cellphone. Duke frowned up at him, he really needed to find something more productive to do with his time. Duke went into the changing rooms and opened the elevator shaft.

Mallory walked in, in her hockey gear. "Hey! Duke, you feeling better?"

He nodded as he strained to push the buttons on the keypad and keep the vase from crashing to the floor at the same time.

"Here, let me help." Mallory said, coming up behind him. The vase slipped in his hands, so he really couldn't say anything to Mallory about it.

Mallory punched in the code and looked at him. "Nice flowers. Got a girl in mind?"

Duke gave Mallory a withering look and then preceded into the elevator. Mallory shrugged and stayed top side. She sighed as the doors slid shut. She went back out onto the ice.

"Hey, Mal, Duke feeling better?" Wildwing called to her.

"Don't expect him up, he's in a rather unusual funk, today." Mallory said to him.

"Our noble friend has had a clouded aura as of late." Grin said quietly.

"Tell me about it, Grinster! I mean, when is it ever like The Duke to ever miss a practice?" Nosedive questioned. "Ya think somebody should go talk to 'im?"

"No!" Wildwing said firmly, "Let him think for a while. If he's not out of it later then we'll see if we can't get him to open up, but I don't want to push him. As Grin said, he seems troubled. Maybe whatever it is will pass."

The other ducks nodded.

Down, far below The Pond Duke sat staring at the flowers. He reached out a hand to caress one of the flower's silky petals. He sniffed as he was weeping again. He had remembered Thea's beak was the same bright orange of these flowers, her hair had been as white as the ice lilies'. He missed her and truthfully, it did him very little good to be down here with a bouquet of flowers that reminded him so much of her. He sighed and got up.

"Well, I can hear Wildwing all the way in here. 'Mal? Where's Duke? Why isn't he suited up already? Why isn't he up here? We've got practice!' Same old Wing. Where ever you are Thea, I hope you're at peace." Duke said quietly, he kissed the petals of one of the flowers gently and then exited his room to go suit up for practice.

* * *

  


To Sailor Vegeta: Duke not only woke up on the wrong side of the nest, but he woke up exceptionally early for him too. Poor Duke! It is kinda fun to put characters in bad moods, but I don't like to keep them that way, that's for sure. It is kind of OOC for Duke to be in a bad mood. As for your computer, man that sucks! I know what it feels like too, if my monitor gets too hot it'll automatically shut itself off! Psycho Computer!!


	4. Chapter 4

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

  


Chapter 4.

  


In side The Raptor, Dragaunus was fuming, recently his henchmen had yet again failed him in acquiring the needed fuel source for The Raptor's engines. He hated those accursed ducks more each day as he had to put up with the humans insistent whining. Humans were even more pathetic than the residents of Puckworld.

Chameleon and Siege were at each others throats...again.

"QUIET, YOU FOOLS!! CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT I AM TRYING TO THINK UP A WAY TO OVER COME YOUR FAILURE?!!" Dragaunus roared.

The two settled in silence as their lord began to ponder a way to destroy the ducks and be able to find some Belirium Crystals so that they could leave this planet and continue the war that they had waged on Puckworld.

"Perhaps using a Puckworld inhabitant would be the best course of action, my lord." Wraith said, in his wispy voice.

"We've tried that, Wraith!" Dragaunus said becoming irritated with being reminded of those last two annoyances. "If I could bring back Decoy and Falcone from wince they went, I'd kill them myself."

"Not them, my lord. Some one who would not deviate from the plan. One who's only loyalty is to you." Wraith said with a smirk.

"And who, of all the duck kind, would be so unquestionably loyal to me, Wraith? There is none like that!!" Dragaunus snarled, looking at Wraith angrily smoke curling up out of his nostrils.

"None, my lord? Are you sure?" Wraith's smirk got larger, "I believe you've forgotten your _daughter_."

"My...? No! I will not use _her_! _She_ is far more valuable where she is now." Dragaunus snapped shocked and angry that Wraith would even suggest such a thing. "_She_ keeps us informed of the going on's of the Puckworld citizenry! I will not remove _her_, Wraith!!"

"My lord, she is undyingly and unquestionably loyal to you. Were not you the one who saved her from the fate that the lesser lords had deemed proper for her? Were you not the one who brought her to the Master Tower when we were on Puckworld?" Wraith said, listing all the reasons that she was so loyal to her _father._

"Was I not the one who allowed my chief scientist to go in and genetically alter her body? Was I not the one who had to hear her scream as she was exposed to radiation and chemicals that changed her body? Was I not the one who told you and Siege to leave her there on Puckworld so that we could escape with more stealth?! Even now I question her unshakable loyalty to me. If it hadn't been for the fact that I hated hearing _her_ scream, I would have let the others have their way with her. If I could have beared to hear her cry out, I would have had her changed beyond all recognition with gene-splicing. No, Wraith, I will not bring her here. She does not know that Canard is gone. Once she finds that out, her loyalty to me will crumble like a stack of cards." Dragaunus said wearily.

"Perhaps, my lord, but we do not know for certain what will happen, besides she is bored on Puckworld. She wants to help fight the Resistance. She has one in particular that she wants thrusted up and served on a silver platter." Wraith smirked as he said this.

"Who?" Dragaunus asked, intrigued.

"Canard. Seems she heard some nasty rumors spread amongst what was left of the Resistance. Seems Canard wanted to marry her, so that he'd be officially the heir to DuCaine's mask. After he found it he decided to get rid of her." Wraith said nastily, "Whether the rumors are true I can not say, but one thing is for sure. You have gotten your revenge for our ancestors ten fold, you turn the last direct living descendant of DuCaine's into a half breed. Neither duck nor Saurian, but one from both worlds!"

Dragaunus thought this over carefully, "Bring my daughter to me Wraith." He said, his hands closing on the armrests of his throne.

"Yes, my lord." Wraith said as he bowed out with a diabolical smirk on his face.

* * *

  


To Sailor Vegeta: Thanks! Really old computer–yeah that makes since. I hope you like this chapter, I'm not particularly happy with it. I'm a bit of a Wraith fan and making him all absolute evil, while having Dragaunus have a soft side wasn't really what I wanted, but I couldn't think of any other way for Thea to be introduced into the story, except for Duke's flash backs.


	5. Chapter 5

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

  


Chapter 5.

  


On Puckworld a gorgeous swan like figure was hurrying along the busy sidewalks. The heels of her boots clacked noisily on the still overly warm concrete. Even after a year of freedom from Saurian rule the planet had yet to return to it's normal weather pattern. She cringed at the thought, even though Lord Dragaunus was gone, he was always with her. In her very veins ran his blood. Even in the heat she had to wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves and sunglasses to cover the now present scales that ran from her fingertips, all the way up her outer arms; around to her back and down the backs of her legs. Her eyes had taken on a very Saurian look as well, becoming slitted like a cat's or a snake's. The only scales that she couldn't hide were the long ridge of spikes that started at her hair line and traveled down the middle of her head and trailed down her spine. Luckily those were long and thin and looked a good deal like her hair. She shivered from the memory. All those needles! All those Saurian scientist, smirking evilly at her. Poking and Prodding her with objects. Filling her body with chemicals that made her loose her feathers in the places that now were scaled. She was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, long black denim pants, black gloves and a black leather coat. She wore a badge on her left, declaring her one of Puckworld's finest.

'Bet Duke would flip.' She thought to herself, unamused.

She shook her head to herself angrily, she did not need to think of her ex-husband this early on in the week. Ever since she had become a cop, she'd think about Duke. Maybe it was all the wanted posters still up for his capture, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that Duke L'Orange was still out there somewhere even though her mind said that the likely hood of Duke still being alive _and_ not stealing every jewel in sight was down right unthinkable. Where ever Duke was, he was keeping his head down. At least, if he was in this city. She growled low to herself for being sidetracked, yet again by her thoughts. She turned around and walked back up to the building that she had meant to go into earlier. She opened the door roughly.

"Having problems, Sugar?" An annoying drake called McMallard asked.

Thea only grunted. She didn't really want to talk to the other officer. He was to say the least a bit weird.

"Hey! I know what'll cheer you up!" McMallard said grinning from ear to ear. "All the other girls cheer up immediately when I do this."

Thea merely looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Her slitted pupil narrowed to almost nonexsistant.

"Why don't we grab dinner and a movie, then we can head back to my place for a little R and R? What do ya say?" McMallard said, oblivious to the look of pure hatred she had shot him.

"No, Mac." She said harshly, her voice sounded like gravel turning. Her throat still had never fully healed from all the soot that she had inhaled when she had escaped The Master Tower's destruction.

"Aw! Why not? Too busy...again?!" McMallard cooed at her as he played with her long platinum blond hair. Luckily, he had yet to touch her spikes.

"No. I'm not in the mood." She said, yanking her hair away from him. Her comm suddenly and thankfully went off. She looked at it. A tiny red light blipped at the top. "Be back." She stated simply and without waiting for an answering reply from McMallard, she slipped off to the ladies room. She checked each of the stalls. After making sure that the coast was clear she locked the door and opened her comm up.

"What do _you_ want Wraith?" She snarled at the frail looking Saurian.

"Lord Dragaunus has an important task for you that he wishes for you to complete. He knows that you will not fail him unlike the other two he brought here to Earth." Wraith said, his wispy voice firm.

"'Bout time." Thea grumbled. "So, when do you need me?"

"Now, would be preferable." Wraith said smoothly.

"Good!" Thea said, happily. "The sooner I get off this retched planet, the sooner those bozos will leave me alone."

"Then, I suspect that we'll be seeing you soon?" Wraith asked.

"Beam me up!" Thea said cheekily.

She unlocked the door to the ladies' room as a green light engulfed her and then she was gone to the Raptor.

* * *

  


To Sailor Vegeta: I thought the idea had some merit when I came up with it. I sure didn't want to have her like DeCoy or Canard, sent off into Dimensional limbo. I didn't want to kill her either because that would have had the story mostly set in flashbacks and no offense of flashbacks, but this story only needs one (sorta!)


	6. Chapter 6

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

Chapter 6.

Duke threw his hockey gear into his locker, snarling to himself all the while. Nosedive looked at him in disgust. Duke hardly ever missed a shot that was sent his way, but tonight's game was dreadful. Duke had seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts this night.

"Hey, Duke! What's up with you? You've been in a funk all week! You need to get over it!" Nosedive said rather loudly. The rest of the team looked up at the two of them.

Duke glowered at Nosedive.

"Um, Dive..." Wildwing said, unsure of what to do, Duke looked about ready to kill Dive. "Duke. Come on you two. Let's go down to the Rec Room, we all need a little R and R."

"No, man! I want it to come clean! We had this game coming up for days, Dukester here needs to get over his little mood swing!" Nosedive shouted, eyeing Duke angrily.

Duke just turned from Nosedive and punched in the code for the elevator. The doors slid open and Duke walked in without a word to the rest of the team.

"Nice going, Nosedive!" Mallory snarled.

"What? You know as well as I do that he needs to get over whatever it is that's bothering him!" Nosedive said angrily.

"Dive!!" Wildwing shouted. "I understand that you're frustrated, but Duke's having problems. We need to _ask_ that he bring them to us, not _demand_ them immediately!! How'd you feel if I suddenly demanded an explanation for _your_ poor performance in that battle with Dragaunus late June?"

The whole team knew which incident Wildwing was talking about, it had been dreadful and Dive had gotten hit almost immediately. Nosedive blanched slightly.

"I think I'll go apologize." Dive mumbled and left the locker room the same way Duke had.

Duke was sitting on his bed when his door whooshed open. He turned and glared when he saw that it was Nosedive.

"What do you want, kid!?" He said angrily.

"I came to apologize." Nosedive said, fighting the urge to look down away from the older drake's gaze.

"That's civil! So, let me guess, your brother sent you?" Duke asked bitterly as he carefully pruned the dead leaves off of his tiger lilies.

"No. No one sent me. I came on my own. Of course, they _did_ point out that I was being a bit of a jerk." Nosedive said lamely.

"A bit?" Duke asked, looking at Dive with a bit of a grin on his face.

"Okay! More than a bit, but come on! You aren't one to _ever_ miss the puck. I mean, what's wrong, man? You _know_ that if The Dive can fix it, he'll fix it!" Nosedive said almost proudly.

"And if he can't?" Duke asked, sounding depressed.

"Then, he'll listen and find a way to fix it. It might not happen right away, but...Duke...come on. Your team needs you! We don't know what's wrong and we'd like to help, but we can't if you don't open up." Nosedive answered, looking at Duke worriedly.

"I'm afraid that no one can help me, kid. Just leave me alone." Duke said his head drooped.

Dive looked at him, but then the residing sound of the alarms going off brought them both out of their stupor.

"Super Hero Time!" Dive said and raced along the halls to Drake One, followed closely by Duke.

"So, Tawny, what's the buzz?" Nosedive asked as he came rushing into the room.

"Dere's somebody in da pond!" Tanya said typing away trying to get the cameras to work.

"Oh man! Not Ol' Draggy again!" Nosedive wailed angrily.

Tanya shook her head. "N–no, n–not him. I–it i–is another duck, I...uh...dink."

"Could it be Canard?" Wildwing asked hopefully.

"It could be Chameleon in disguise." Mallory pointed out to him.

"N–no, i–it i–isn't C–canard. It's a g–girl!" Tanya said surprised.

"Let's go team! It might be DeCoy!" Wildwing snapped.

The others nodded and were out the door.

Thea stood there in the bleachers looking around in utter amazement.

'Too bad daddy doesn't like hockey.' She thought in disappointment, 'I'd really like to play again.'

The Mighty Ducks noticed that their visitor seemed preoccupied, unlike DeCoy or Chameleon, who would not have been looking around in stunned silence. Wildwing, Nosedive and Duke came up behind her while Mallory, Tanya and Grin came up in front.

"Hold it right there!" Mallory snarled aiming her puck blaster at Thea's head. "Who are you?"

Thea looked at Mallory as though she was the strangest thing she had ever seen. Her big blue eyes, covered by her sunglasses, were wide with fright.

"Okay!" Wildwing said as he turned on The Mask. "That's weird!" He exclaimed as Thea turned around and Duke dropped his saber.

"What's wrong big bro?" Nosedive said still clutching his gun.

"She's not there!" Wildwing said in shock.

"What?!" Mallory and Tanya exclaimed.

"I just, uh, fixed it!" Tanya said indignantly.

"No, I mean, The Mask is working! However, she's not showing up!" Wildwing said still shocked.

"Then, how do we know if she's a real duck or not?!" Mallory asked not daring to lower her blaster.

Duke looked at Mallory, "She's legit."

"How do you know?" Wildwing asked, puzzled as to why The Mask wasn't working.

"This is a Swanson." Duke said, hand out towards her.

Mallory's and Nosedive's eyes got real big.

"A Swanson?! Are you serious?" Mallory asked, lowering her blaster.

"What's the last name have to do with why The Mask isn't picking her up?" Wildwing asked clearly confused.

"Bro?! Didn't you _ever_ pay attention in history class?" Dive asked indignantly. "She's a Swanson! Drake DuCaine's descendant! The Mask won't pick her up because she has DuCaine's blood flowing through her veins!"

"Never knew _you_ paid attention in class, baby bro?" Wildwing said amused.

"When it came to DuCaine, man, you know I did." Dive said, lowering his own blaster.

"This is _all_ very educational and all, but why are you all standing around me as though your jaws are about to drop?" Thea asked, clearly she was amused.

"Sorry!" Mallory said holstering her gun and saluting. "Mallory McMallard ma'am! Puckworld Special Forces, at your service!"

Nosedive started to chuckle. Mallory glared at him angrily.

"It's okay, sweetheart, we know that your only being extremely polite." Duke said with a chuckle.

"Well..." Mallory said, clearly at a loss.

"This here is Grin, he likes yoga and meditation," Duke said starting to introduce everyone since Wildwing and the others seemed to not know what to do. "This is Tanya, she built everything here. Of course, Mallory, who can fight as well as she can shop. These two are the Flashblade brothers, Wildwing and Nosedive."

"And...this here is Duke L'Orange, resident..." Nosedive was interrupted when Thea's fist shoots out and hooks Duke's beak.

Duke hits the ground with an audible crack.

"THAT, is for all those lies you told me! THEN, surviving and leaving me there to die!" Thea shook with rage.

Okay, I'm at a loss as to what I should write next. So, maybe if I leave it at a cliffie and come back after a few reviews it'll jog my brain into action. :D So, review!


	7. Chapter 7

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

By Alex Lyons3

Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks or anything attached to the great Animated show. Enjoy the enjoyable fanfic that is here merely for your enjoyment.

Chapter 7.

Duke had explained to the others that he and Thea needed to work some stuff out before they told the others why Thea had decided to hit him hard enough to send him sprawling onto his backside. So, now they were in Duke's room. Thea gazed at the tiger lilies thoughtfully from behind her sunglasses.

"I never expected to see you again." Duke said quietly, his eyes on the floor as he sat on the edge of the bed his hands dangling from his knees.

"When I got here I thought you were still on Puckworld." Thea answered stroking on of the petals with a gloved finger, her face showing her regret at not being able to feel the soft, velvety, coolness of the flower.

Duke looked up at her, his eyes took in her form. She was here with him, yet so far away. "You know, goddess, it'd work better if you took your gloves off." He stood to go to her, but stopped in mid-stride when she turned a face of utter loathing on him.

"I can't! No matter what! I can't take my gloves off in this horrid climate!" She spat at him.

Duke blinked a couple of times, but didn't push the issue. Instead, deciding on what he deemed a safer topic. "I don't understand why you were so insistent that day you left with your team. You had never been that pig headed with me. What were you trying to prove? That you were just as good as the rest of us?"

"What?"Thea asked looking at Duke, her face showing her confusion, "I didn't want to go out on that mission. I told Canard that it didn't feel right. He didn't listen. He told me that it was now or never and that I was the only one who could pull it off." Thea said, her gravely voice choking on the tears she dared not let out. "I thought he loved me! I was wrong!"

Duke soon had his arms wrapped around her small frame. One hand buried in her hair and the other holding her tightly to him. "Shh. It's alright. Everything is fine. Your safe and I'm here. I'm here." He said as he gently rocked her as she cried into his jumpsuit.

It had been along time since she had been held like this and she really didn't want it to end, but she knew that it had to. She pushed away from Duke a bit and he let her go. Reluctantly.

"You know Duke, I could never understand you." Thea said, deciding to change the topic of discussion slightly.

"What do you mean, babe?" Duke asked, curiously.

Thea snorted at him. "You know perfectly well what I mean." She snapped, "Was it worth it to you, to loose everything we meant to each other over a successful heist?"

"No, Thea, it wasn't." He whispered, solemnly. "After that night you left. I just never could pull off a good heist with the same emotions and adrenaline running through my head. It wasn't any fun anymore."

She snorted at him again. "Of course. Always thinking of yourself Duke, never about anybody else. Why did you bring me down here anyway?"

Duke looked sheepishly at the floor. "I'm sorry, Thea. I wanted to run after you, but I knew too that you'd never trust me again..."

"It wasn't as though you cheated on me or anything like that." She whispered.

"Maybe," He shrugged, "but what right did I have dragging you down into the murk with me?" She looked at him, "None, Thea. I had no right and I knew that it would take more than you leaving me to get me to leave The Brotherhood. Though, I must admit a few of the other members tried to get me to go after you. Some, like Skylark, told me that if I wanted to quit to go after you, then they wouldn't blame me. After all, you were one heck of a catch."

Thea smirked, "Skylark always did know what to say. Still does as a matter of fact."

"How's he doing anyway?" Duke asked, curiously.

"Better. The Brotherhood has been dissolved here recently. Mainly because of a lot of the members turning against Dragaunus. It isn't us against them anymore. It's us and them against Dragaunus." Thea said quietly. "He's like me, a cop now."

"You're a cop?" Duke asked incredulously.

Thea nodded, "In an odd way, I was looking for you. Kinda a good thing I got picked up in that swirling vortex. I'd be looking along time if I were still on Puckworld. Oh don't look so smug, L'Orange!" She snapped as he started to smirk.

"Sorry, babe, but I never knew I was that irresistible to you." Duke said proudly.

"Oh please." She snarled, "I would think that our current meeting would still be fresh on your mind."

Duke frowned, "Is that why you've been looking for me? To knock the shit outta me?"

Something like that." She said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaned up against the chest of draws. She sighed, "Why didn't I mean enough to you?"

"I..." Duke stuttered looking at her nervously, "I don't know. You meant the world to me, but I guess even that wasn't enough." Duke shook his head sadly. "You can have my room, by the way. I know you'll like it a heck of a lot better than the other guys' rooms. And those are for you." He said pointing to the large vase of tiger lilies.

"Where will you sleep?" Thea asked bewildered as he started to walk out of the room.

"On the couch. It won't kill me, you know." He said teasingly, since on their honeymoon she had thrown him out on the couch their first night, mainly because she still felt self-conscience about having being married.

"I suppose not." Thea said a little hesitantly.

Suddenly, just before Duke made it to his door, it whooshed open and Nosedive and Mallory stood there. "Okay, Duke, you've had her for long enough." Nosedive quipped, "We're taking her to the mall."

Duke looked at the two like they'd grown a second head each or just announce that they were engaged.

"Yeah, we've got to get her some nicer clothes than the ones she's wearing right now." Mallory said, smiling.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Thea said testily. She liked her leather jacket and wasn't about to change it for anyone.

"Nothing," Mallory said hastily, "but it's just not right for this climate."

"I'm fine." Thea said blandly. "Not even warm."

"Come on, we want to show you around." Dive said.

"No, thank you!" Thea said sitting on the bed with her arms crossed.

"She's made up her mind guys. Let's leave her be, I'm sure she's tired anyway. Right, sweetheart?" Duke said looking at Thea out of the corner of his eye. Thea nodded a bit too eagerly.

Both Dive and Mallory frowned, but nodded, they knew too how tiring coming through a warp hole could be, so they agreed that rest should be her first priority.

"Well, Wing said she can use his room." Dive started, but was cut off by a withering glare sent by Duke.

"I already offered mine." Duke said a bit defensively.

Mallory raised a brow and muttered under her breath.

"I'm going to be sleeping on the couch until we find out where to put her, Mallory." Duke said, his synthetic eye glowing slightly.

"Come on, Mal." Dive said realizing that what ever Mallory had said had officially ticked off Duke. "Let's go see if Wing or Tawny needs us to do anything for them, eh?" Dive then grabbed Mallory's arm and dragged her off as quickly as he could.

"What did she say?" Thea asked once they were out of the room and the doors had closed with a whoosh.

"That I was a perv." Duke snarled slightly.

Thea sighed, "Where would she get that idea?"

Duke shrugged, "Don't know. Guess it might be my charm and the fact I seem to act like a womanizer. Though, while I call a lot of women sweetheart I don't mean anything by it." Duke shrugged again. "Now, I'm going to let you rest."

To Daniella L'Orange: Thanks! I'm glad you like my story. Also, thanks for returning the favor.

To TallieCat: Thanks, I hope this chapter meets the expectations of my public.

To Spellcaster Hikaru: Thea seems a bit Mary Sue-ish though, but I like her too, she's got guts, something you don't see a whole lot of in Mary Sue-ish characters. LOL! Updating! Updating!


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